This year Children’s HealthWatch focused on the theme “We Owe Kids.” We owe all kids a safe place to sleep, nutritious food to eat, access to quality health care, and so much more. This is not a new focus as for 25 years Children’s HealthWatch has been working to achieve health equity for young children and their families by advancing research to transform policy. Through research we can bring the experiences and voices of families to the halls of state houses and Congress.
In 2024 we have pushed our mission forward in the following ways:
Fought for more resources for children and families
With 1 in 7 children having experienced poverty and over 17.% of households with children facing food insecurity at some point in 2023, Children’s HealthWatch continued to push for evidenced based policies that support the health and well-being of young children.
In 2024 we successfully advocated for adequate funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to ensure that no state would need to have a waiting list for this critical program. We also fought for an expanded Child Tax Credit, which research has shown the advance payments served as a buffer against food insufficiency among households with children. In January, the House overwhelmingly passed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act to expand the Child Tax Credit for nearly 16 million children in low-income families. Despite its passage and strong bipartisan support, a minority of Senators blocked the bill from becoming law.
Our work at the national level on tax credits builds on our continued success leading the Healthy Families Tax Credits Coalition in Massachusetts. On the heels of a successful campaign in 2023 to expand the state Earned Income Tax Credit and establish a universal, inclusive Child and Family Tax Credit, Children’s HealthWatch partnered with state agencies and community organizations to raise awareness and uptake of the credits. As a result, more resources were delivered to hundreds of thousands of families across the Commonwealth. Building on this momentum, we expanded our coalition to include nearly 50 new partners and collaborated with stakeholders to push for greater tax equity in Massachusetts. in Massachusetts. We will continue to stand up for all families to have access to the resources they need.
Published timely and important peer-reviewed publications
The Children’s HealthWatch team continues to collect data from the frontline of healthcare to track the impact of policy decisions on the brains and bodies of our children.
Our work demonstrated the negative ripple effect for families when they are forced to move and how the expanded Child Tax Credit helped families avoid economic shocks. Our team also published papers that informed health care including validating an abbreviated ACEs tool for caregivers, how pediatrics can support co-enrollment to address health related social needs, and the opportunities the use of electronic health records and health databases can provide. Please see a roundup of all of our research here.
Disseminated policy-relevant briefs to key decision-makers
Children’s HealthWatch published policy briefs and shared them with legislators and staff to educate them about opportunities to address the needs of children and families.
These briefs focused on the need to protect benefits for recipients of direct cash and guaranteed income programs, discussed how families who are forced to move often also lose access to other critical benefits, and showed how the advanced Child Tax helped to keep families secure and healthy.
Fostered continued discussion on equity
Children’s HealthWatch continued to focus on equity with our Equity in Action Series holding webinars with rich discussions on timely topics, such as equity concerns in Food Is Medicine programs and how guaranteed income programs can help advance health equity for children and families.
Leveraged subject matter expertise
Children’s HealthWatch actively participated in high-level policy discussions through the MassHealth Social Service Integration Working Group and fostered partnerships with federal agencies like USDA and HHS, ensuring that children’s food security was addressed through healthcare interventions and policy changes. Through leading the extensive Hunger Vital Sign National Community of Practice with over 500 members, Children’s HealthWatch played a pivotal role in developing and disseminating best practices for integrating social care screenings and interventions into healthcare settings, fostering a nationwide network of practitioners committed to addressing food insecurity as a health issue. Our pediatricians and policy staff also participated in several Congressional briefings to highlight the connection between housing and health, and bipartisan opportunities to expand access to safe, affordable housing.
Communicated our work and inspired actions
Over the entire year, Children’s HealthWatch maintained a dynamic presence through social media platforms and rich resources on our website and to dig into issues such as racial equity, tax, nutrition, child care, energy security, housing, and more. Each month we highlighted a new area, elevating our research, and actions people could take to address the needs of children and families.
As we end 2024, the team at Children’s HealthWatch is preparing for the year ahead. In the coming months and years, our evidence-based work will be more important than ever. Children’s HealthWatch is uniquely positioned to show how changes to social safety-net programs and tax policies can affect children’s health and development – from improved cognitive, social, and motor outcomes when programs are strengthened, to increased health risks and material hardships when supports are reduced.
We have done it before, and we will continue to rigorously track the impact of policy on child health and family well-being. You will be able to join us in this as soon our Democratizing Our Data project will be live on our new website allowing anyone to access parts of our data so everyone can be an advocate for children’s health.
We hope you will stay connected to us and support us in 2025.